NASCAR Xfinity Series at Bristol 2015: Results, Winner, Standings and Reaction

Kyle Busch led 89 of the 302 laps in Friday night's Food City 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway, with the last three proving to be the most pivotal as he passed Chris Buescher en route to a checkered flag.

With the compact nature of Bristol, Buescher and Busch engaged in a great cat-and-mouse game in the race's later stages. Buescher was running in the lead, but his position was far from secure. Not only did he have the No. 54 car breathing down his neck, but he also had to weave his way past the cars running multiple laps back.

As if that wasn't enough, Buescher also had to ensure he retained enough fuel to finish the race, which became more and more of an issue the longer the race went on.

A caution on Lap 295 threw another roadblock Buescher's way. Meanwhile, Xfinity Racing was just looking forward to the green-white-checkered:

After having so many great restarts earlier in the race, Buescher's luck ran out as he got caught at the top of the track, leaving Busch free and clear to take the lead. Once he worked himself into first, Busch wasn't going to be caught.

As NBC Sports' Dustin Long noted, the win represents a landmark in Busch's career. He now has 150 checkered flags across all of the national touring series. Busch certainly enjoyed himself during his post-race celebrations, per the Bristol Motor Speedway:

You can see the top 10 finishers below:

Pos.	Driver
1	Kyle Busch
2	Kyle Larson
3	Denny Hamlin
4	Ty Dillon
5	Daniel Suarez
6	Brian Scott
7	Chase Elliott
8	Kevin Harvick
9	Regan Smith
10	Brendan Gaughan

Buescher's fortunes took a turn quickly Friday, but he remains in first place in the Xfinity Series standings:

Pos.	Driver	Wins	Points
1	Chris Buescher	2	800
2	Ty Dillon	0	781
3	Chase Elliott	0	777
4	Regan Smith	1	749
5	Elliott Sadler	0	718
T6	Daniel Suarez	0	697
T6	Darrell Wallace Jr.	0	697
8	Brian Scott	0	681
9	Brendan Gaughan	0	676
10	Ryan Reed	1	606

It would be unfair to say Busch stole the victory, even though he did wait until the last moment to make his move. Busch was one of the best drivers on the track and did a great job of biding his time until he saw his window.

Patience is a virtue, and Busch demonstrated exactly that.

Of course, the outcome was a bit rough for Buescher, who did so well right up until the final restart. He and his crew chief gambled a bit on fuel, and it backfired in the end. The No. 60 car dropped all the way back to 11th as it crossed the finish.

Fox Sports' Larry McReynolds surely wasn't happy to see Buescher fall just short:

Jeff Gluck of USA Today still foresees the 22-year-old having a bright future:

Bad luck wasn't unique to Buescher. Nobody led more laps than Denny Hamlin (106), but that only earned him a third-place finish.

Hamlin was enjoying a pretty good Friday before the Food City 300. Earlier in the day, he earned the pole for the Irwin Tools Night Race on the Sprint Cup circuit. With a top speed of 131.407 miles per hour, the 34-year-old also set a track qualifying record, per NASCAR Stats.

Things were looking good for Hamlin midway through the race, but once he lost his grip on the top spot, he was never much of a factor going forward, ceding the spotlight to Busch and Buescher.

Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Daniel Suarez, had a nice night as well, winning the "Dash 4 Cash" and becoming $100,000 richer in the process. Don't worry about money robbing Suarez of his humility, per JGR:

There's one more leg left in the "Dash 4 Cash," which is at the Darlington Raceway on Sept. 5.

Only 11 races remain in the Xfinity Series season. Buescher has a pretty solid lead atop the points standings, but that can change in the space of a few races.

Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, will be the destination for next Saturday's Road America 180. Brendan Gaughan will enter as the defending champion.